Ribbon-cutting ceremony marking completion of the San Elijo Pump Station that will provide Vallecitos Water District with treatment services from Olivenhain Municipal Water District’s (OMWD) David C. McCollom Water Treatment Plant via an existing interconnection. The pump will allow Vallecitos to pump water from the OMWD Elfin forest area dam and treatment facility to the Vallecitos Water District Stephanie Court tank in San Elijo Hill’s and provide water for San Elijo Hills and Western San Marcos and some of Carlsbad. This will mean that San Elijo Hills is not getting Desalinization water from the Poseidon plant in Carlsbad. Other areas in San Marcos are getting a percentage of it’s water from the new desalinization plant. This local efficiency will help all of North County San Diego.
Under the agreement signed between the two agencies in 2012, Vallecitos Water District will purchase a minimum of 2,750 acre-feet per year of treatment services from Olivenhain Municipal Water District, roughly the amount of water required to supply 5,500 households.
This partnership is mutually beneficial for ratepayers of both agencies. Vallecitos Water District will purchase treatment services from OMWD at a lower rate than is offered by regional water wholesalers, reducing the per-unit purchase cost of water. Meanwhile, Olivenhain Municipal Water District will sell surplus treatment services, offsetting water treatment costs, and improve efficiency by running its plant at full capacity.
The San Elijo Hills Pump Station won an Award of Merit for engineering excellence from the American Council of Engineering Companies.
